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View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoEric Albrecht | DispatchJoe Turner, manager of Nutter Hardware in Upper Arlington, holds IOUs from customers. He let them shop for blackout supplies when he couldn’t run credit cards or verify checks.

When the lights go out, you often find out which neighbors you can count on for help.

That was the case last Friday evening for Jim Decker, who was at his neighborhood hardware
store, Nutter Hardware, trying to buy batteries after the electricity at his house went out.

“Their credit-card machine wasn’t working, because they didn’t have electricity, and I didn’t
have enough cash,” Decker said.

No problem, an employee of the Upper Arlington store told him.

“He said, ‘We’ll write you out an IOU, and you can come back later and pay,’ which I did,”
Decker said.

Decker was one of six customers who were given IOUs on Friday night, and another 20 were allowed
to pay with checks, even though the hardware store was unable able to verify that their accounts
had adequate funds.

“We didn’t have electricity, but there was never a thought of closing,” said store manager Joe
Turner. “Our vision is to be a part of the community, to help people.”

The store lit lanterns and stayed open.

Flashlights, batteries and lanterns were the top-selling items.

Nutter Hardware was able to use a generator to regain power on Saturday morning but wasn’t able
to accept credit cards and verify checks until later in the day, when the electricity came on.

“We had one cash register going and there was a line 10 deep, but people were patient and
everything worked out,” Turner said.

The store is a member of the Ace Hardware buying cooperative and opened in August. The Kingsdale
Shopping Center business is owned by Chuck Nutter, who has operated Nutter Handyman Services for
many years and is well known in the Upper Arlington area.

“I trust people,” he said of extending credit to people Friday night. “We had an opportunity to
help people and maybe gain customers for life.”

Decker has long been sold on that philosophy and has used Nutter’s handyman services for many
years.

“Before he even opened the hardware store, Chuck said he wanted it to be a friendly place, an
old-fashioned place, and I think he’s knocking himself out to do this,” Decker said. “He’s always
smiling and greets you and knows your name.”

And if he needs more batteries for his lantern, Decker said, he knows where to go.